Questions tagged with 'who'http://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/tags/who2015-03-03T14:20:47Zwho/whom as object of infinitivehttp://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/55135-whowhom-as-object-of-infinitive/
<p>
I&#39;m editing a book for an author, and his subtitle is &quot;embracing who you are to become who [whom?] you were meant to be.&quot; I can&#39;t figure out what part of speech the second &quot;who&quot; is: a direct object of the infinitive &quot;to be&quot; or a linking complement of the verb &quot;to be.&quot; If it&#39;s a direct object the word should be whom. If it&#39;s a linking complement it should be who. Thanks!</p>
<p><small>asked <a href="/answers/questions/55135-whowhom-as-object-of-infinitive/">Feb 22 at 00:24</a> by <a href="/answers/users/337483/justin-jaquith" class="profile">Justin Jaquith</a>, New member</small></p>
<h3>1 answer</h3>
<p>Tip: use "who". Sales of the book will plummet if the word "whom" is in the title. In all seriousness, your excellent question demonstrates why "whom" is a stupid word that is fast disappearing from English. Ask any two English profs this question and I guarantee you'll get at least two opposing answers. Nobody knows how to use "whom" correctly when faced with a complex sentence or phrase like this. I'll paste in a link to some scholarly reading you should do. But, my advice is to go with "who."</p>
<p><small>answered <a href="/answers/questions/55135-whowhom-as-object-of-infinitive/#answer_40983">Feb 24 at 00:52</a> by <a href="/answers/users/132796/shawn-mooney" class="profile">Shawn Mooney</a>, Expert</small></p>
sentence formationhttp://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/55011-sentence-formation/
<p>
Hi there!</p>
<p>
need some help ...can you say &quot;who gives a book gives a dream&quot; ?</p>
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or is it better &quot;those who give a book give a dream&quot;</p>
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thanks for helping</p>
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cheers,</p>
<p>
ilaria</p>
<p><small>asked <a href="/answers/questions/55011-sentence-formation/">Feb 18 at 11:34</a> by <a href="/answers/users/337165/ilaria" class="profile">ilaria</a>, New member</small></p>
<h3>1 answer</h3>
<p>
Both of your examples, and bernard&#39;s suggestion, are correct. It&#39;s a matter of preference.</p>
<p><small>answered <a href="/answers/questions/55011-sentence-formation/#answer_41057">Feb 24 at 23:36</a> by <a href="/answers/users/170187/wallid-fielding" class="profile">Wallid Fielding</a>, Contributor</small></p>
who/thathttp://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/54935-whothat/
<p>
What is the difference and which form is correct?</p>
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1) It is my mum who taught me.<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It is my mum that taught me.</p>
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2) There were five crew members on board who would have had access to the beverage trolley.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There were five crew members on board that would have had access to the beverage trolley.</p>
<p><small>asked <a href="/answers/questions/54935-whothat/">Feb 15 at 12:31</a> by <a href="/answers/users/336929/stanislav-petryshyn" class="profile">Stanislav Petryshyn</a>, New member</small></p>
<h3>1 answer</h3>
<p>Both "who" and "that" are correct as relative pronouns referring to people. Using "that" is considered more informal than "who," but don't let anyone tell you that using "that" for people is a grammar mistake. It's not. As well, in informal writing, "that" is considered more natural when referring to a a group or category of people and "who" when referring to a particular person. By that standard, "that" is more natural in your second set of examples than in your first.</p>
<p><small>answered <a href="/answers/questions/54935-whothat/#answer_40809">Feb 16 at 08:28</a> by <a href="/answers/users/132796/shawn-mooney" class="profile">Shawn Mooney</a>, Expert</small></p>
Who vs whomhttp://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/54905-who-vs-whom/
<p>
I know the basic rules for when to use &quot;who&quot; or &quot;whom,&quot; but sometimes I get a little confused. For example, when you say something like, &quot;I wonder whether I have ever talked to someone who has killed someone,&quot; isn&#39;t the &quot;someone&quot; an object in the sentence because I&#39;m talking about myself and what I have done? I understand that if there is a phrase or clause (unsure) in a complex sentence then the subject of only that clause should be referred to with the &quot;who&quot; pronoun, but I don&#39;t know if there is anotehr clause in there...</p>
<p>
Also, I&#39;ve been wondering for a while now about the interchangeability of &quot;if&quot; and &quot;whether.&quot; Are there any rules for those words? For example, &quot;I want to see if you&#39;re really who you say you are,&quot; vs &quot;I want to see whether you&#39;re really...&quot; Part of me thinks that &quot;whether&quot; is for comparing to possibilitues, but sometimes it just doesn&#39;t sound right...
Thanks for your help!</p>
<p><small>asked <a href="/answers/questions/54905-who-vs-whom/">Feb 12 at 22:15</a> by <a href="/answers/users/322925/joshua-neumann" class="profile">Joshua Neumann</a>, New member</small></p>
<h3>1 answer</h3>
<p>Joshua,</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Two great questions!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Who/Whom</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Please carefully consider other experts' answers on this point - on both points, of course! &ndash; because they will probably disagree with me on "who/whom." &nbsp;I have long argued on these pages that the object pronoun "whom" is archaic, pretentious, and, thankfully, disappearing from the English language. Good riddance to it! :-). Your example sentence is a good case in point as to the ridiculousness of choosing between these pronouns in complex constructions. In addition to sharing my opinion with my students on "whom's" welcome demise, I teach them that the only time where using "who" is still generally considered a grammatical mistake is following a preposition. In all other non-academic contexts, most people go with "who" most of the time, and have done so since the time of Shakespeare and Jane Austen and all those other writers with bad grammar&hellip; :-)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>If you've got some time, and would like to get down into the weeds, Google "schepps whom competing constraints" for a fascinating 60 page summary of the history of the rule and the debate, and the academic forces at play. The graduate student concludes her thesis by doing a grammar aptitude survey of her peers in the university, using complex sentences like yours and asking them to choose whether "who" or "whom" is correct. The results are hilarious and revealing. :-)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><p>If/Whether</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>There is more consensus on this one. &nbsp;In terms of meaning, Garner's Modern American Usage&nbsp;recommends using "if" for a conditional idea and "whether" for an alternative or possibility. &nbsp;If I ask you to let me know if you can come to my party, I'm expecting you to reply only if you are coming; on the other hand, if I ask you to let me know whether you can come to my party, I'm expecting a reply either way.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>But in so many instances, the difference in meaning between a conditional idea, an alternative, and a possibility collapses. So, most of the time, you can choose freely between them with the following grammatical rules to help you choose:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>1. Both are fine for indirect questions. &nbsp;<em>I'm not sure whether/if I'll have time. </em>But for more formal verbs, such as "discuss," "whether" is preferred: <em>We discussed whether to adopt the new regulations. &nbsp;"</em>Whether" is also preferred with "or" (<em>She didn't know whether to take the job in Boston or stay in Toronto</em>)&nbsp;and when the indirect question is at the front of the sentence (<em>Whether I marry him is none of your business!</em>)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>2. Only "whether" is correct after a preposition: <em>They had a big argument about whether to attend the gala.</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>3.&nbsp;Only "whether" is correct before an infinitive verb: <em>I can't decide whether to go to the party.</em></p>
<p><br /></p>
<p>4. If it's included in a clause that's the subject or complement of a sentence, "whether" is normally preferred: <em>Whether whom is disappearing from English is a hotly contested matter. The question is whether you want to be with him or not.</em></p>
<p><em><br /></em></p>
<p>Those are the basic guidelines, and my source here is Michael Swan's Practical English Usage, 3rd edition.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have more questions!</p>
<p></p>
<p><small>answered <a href="/answers/questions/54905-who-vs-whom/#answer_40745">Feb 13 at 01:03</a> by <a href="/answers/users/132796/shawn-mooney" class="profile">Shawn Mooney</a>, Expert</small></p>
Working/grammar for a taglinehttp://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/54693-workinggrammar-for-a-tagline/
<p>
Hi,</p>
<p>
I&#39;m trying to help my sister with a mission statement. Right now, she has :</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
...is a team of technical experts that engineers remarkable buildings while inspiring clients to rethink what&#39;s possible.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
I think it should be :</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
...is a team of technical experts who engineer remarkable buildings while inspiring clients to rethink what&#39;s possible.</p>
<p>
<br />
I&#39;d love to hear any comments!</p>
<p>
Many thanks...</p>
<p><small>asked <a href="/answers/questions/54693-workinggrammar-for-a-tagline/">Feb 02 at 22:01</a> by <a href="/answers/users/336019/hanni-yothers" class="profile">Hanni Yothers</a>, New member</small></p>
The attribution of characteristics that are transitive.http://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/54335-the-attribution-of-characteristics-that-are-transitive/
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I have found an area of english where my brain seems to need a new grammar that doesn&acute;t exist. I am a native speaker.</p>
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&nbsp;</p>
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example:</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
He is a man that everyone likes, for whom it is good that he is so nice to everyone.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
He is a man that everyone likes, who it is good that he is so nice to everyone.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
end example...</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
I know I can use the word &uml;and&uml; in place of &uml;for whom&uml; or &uml;who&uml; but, I want to focus on the benefit &uml;the goodness&uml; he receives as an attribute interacting with his person and not just a separate fact.
Any comments would be appreciated. The specific question isn&acute;t that well forumlated in my mind seeing how there is a certain mystery to it all to me.</p>
<p><small>asked <a href="/answers/questions/54335-the-attribution-of-characteristics-that-are-transitive/">Jan 16 at 03:29</a> by <a href="/answers/users/334667/alan-faryna" class="profile">Alan Faryna</a>, New member</small></p>
<h3>1 answer</h3>
Who or Whomhttp://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/53259-who-or-whom/
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I am writing an essay and am unsure whether to use who or whom.</p>
<p>
The sentence is:</p>
<p>
They are also not to keen on my interest in Nirvana, (who or whom) I trade for the equally beloved Ella Fitzgerald when I have the little girls I nanny in my car.</p>
<p>
Thank you for the help!</p>
<p><small>asked <a href="/answers/questions/53259-who-or-whom/">Nov 21 &#39;14 at 00:14</a> by <a href="/answers/users/331645/meghan" class="profile">meghan</a>, New member</small></p>
That vs. whohttp://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/52471-that-vs-who/
<p>
In the following sentence:</p>
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&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The proportion of patients ____ received medical treatment versus surgical treatment was slightly biased toward medical treatment.</p>
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&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Would the blank be replaced by that or who? The phrase can either be interpreted as &quot;the proportion that&quot; or &quot;patients who received&quot;.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Thanks for your help!</p>
<p><small>asked <a href="/answers/questions/52471-that-vs-who/">Oct 16 &#39;14 at 18:34</a> by <a href="/answers/users/329297/marta" class="profile">Marta</a>, New member</small></p>
Who or Whom?http://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/52003-who-or-whom/
<p>
Could anyone help me with this sentence? &nbsp;I&#39;m not sure if I should use &#39;who&#39; or &#39;whom&#39; and the reason why? &nbsp;Any help is greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>This team can be characterized as individuals who/whom are experienced, resourceful and have strong work ethics.</em></p>
<p><small>asked <a href="/answers/questions/52003-who-or-whom/">Sep 18 &#39;14 at 18:46</a> by <a href="/answers/users/291497/sierra" class="profile">Sierra</a>, New member</small></p>
who or whomhttp://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/48533-who-or-whom/
<p>
Is the following usage of whom correct? xx influenced where I could go and whom I could interview</p>
<p><small>asked <a href="/answers/questions/48533-who-or-whom/">Mar 06 &#39;14 at 03:23</a> by <a href="/answers/users/297393/sabrina" class="profile">Sabrina</a>, New member</small></p>